Ask the Educator: “Youth Questions”

So this isn’t my typical “Ask an Educator” post because it isn’t an answer to a question. Instead, I wanted to talk about some of the questions I get from young people in our community.

I have recently set up a box in the Syracuse Northeast Community Center Library titled, “Ask Ethan.” Youth can drop in questions about health, growing up, school, and being an adult. I respond to about one question a week and post it for the youth to see. With this post, I wanted to share some of the most common questions I get from young people.

Many youth want to know how they should talk to their parents. They want to bring up conversations about growing up but they aren’t sure how to start

Youth also ask me about high school, careers, and college – asking questions about what would happen if they didn’t finish high school, if they should go to college, or what kind of career they should have

And finally, I do get some questions like “where do babies come from” which may or may not be just trying to mess with me. However, I do think it points to some actual curiosity about sex, love, relationships, and parenting.

So the one major thing I think we can take away from these questions is that kids want to talk about these topics, even if they don’t come out and ask parents. So start some conversations with the young people in your life. And if you have questions about parenting, puberty, sexuality, health, and the teenage years you, too, can submit your questions online or by emailing me directly at elewis@snccsyr.org.